The Miracle Worker: Abigail Breslin & Alison Pill to star in William Gibson’s classic drama

Producer David Richenthal has announced the first revival of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker as the Tony Award winning play celebrates its 50th Anniversary of opening on Broadway.

Directed by Kate Whoriskey (Ruined), The Miracle Worker will star Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Tony Award nominee Alison Pill (The Lieutenant of Inishmore) as 'Helen Keller' and 'Annie Sullivan,' iconic roles made famous by Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke in the Tony Award winning play and landmark feature film adaptation.

Additional casting will be announced shortly.

The Miracle Worker will be staged in the round, opening at the Circle in the Square Theatre on 3 Mar 2010, following previews from 12 Feb 2010.

The play is set in Alabama in the 1880's and tells the real life story of Helen Keller, a girl who at a very young age is left blind, deaf and dumb after surviving an attack of scarlett fever. Unable to communicate with the world the girl suffers fits of frustration which manifests itself in violent tantrums.

Her desperate parents seek help from the Perkins Institute' who send Annie Sullivan, a visually impaired young woman, to tutor Helen. Through kindness, persistence and forcefull stubborness, Annie finally breaks through the barriers that seperate the frustrated Helen from the rest of the world and teachers the girl a method by which she can communicate with the people around her.

Young film star Abigail Breslin will make her Broadway debut in the role of 'Helen Keller.' She made her breakthrough feature film appearance as Mel Gibson's leading lady at the tender age of five in M. Night Shyamalan's 2002 film 'Signs,' and received an Academy Award nomination for her critically-acclaimed title role performance in the runaway hit comedy 'Little Miss Sunshine.'

Alison Pill returns to the stage following starring on Broadway in 'Mauritius' and in the Off-Broadway hits 'reasons to be pretty' and 'Blackbird,' for which she received Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award nominations. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in 'The Lieutenant of Inishmore.' She recently appeared in the hit feature film 'Milk' opposite Sean Penn and the acclaimed HBO series 'In Treatment.'

Director Kate Whoriskey is making her Broadway debut with the production. She recently directed the highly praised Manhattan Theatre Club production of Lynn Nottage's 'Ruined,' which ran an extended run Off-Broadway earlier this year. Other Off-Broadway credits include: 'The Piano Teacher' by Julia Cho at the Vineyard Theatre, 'Last Tree in Antartica' by Julia Cho at Ensemble Studio Theatre, the world premiere of 'Fabulation' by Lynn Nottage at Playwrights Horizons and 'Massacre' by Jose Rivera at the Labyrinth Theatre Company of which she is a member. Whoriskey was recently named artistic director of Seattle's Intiman Theatre.

Playwright William Gibson first adapted the story of Helen Keller and her teacher into a television teleplay called The Miracle Worker in 1957. He made his Broadway debut as a playwright with the love story 'Two for the Seesaw,' starring Henry Fonda and Anne Bancroft, and received his first Tony Award nomination for the show. The Miracle Worker followed in 1959, The play won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1960. Gibson's other works include 'Golden Boy,' 'Raggedy Ann,' 'A Cry of Players' and 'Golda's Balcony.' He passed away in 2008 at the age of 95.

David Richenthal has produced several multi-award winning productions, including 'Death of a Salesman,' 'Long Days Journey Into Night,' 'The Crucible' and 'I Am My Own Wife.' His production of the revival of 'Finian's Rainbow' opens on 29 Oct 2009 at Broadway's St. James Theatre.

The original Broadway production of The Miracle Worker played from 19 Oct 1959 - 1 Jul 1961 at the Playhouse Theatre. That production, directed by Arthur Penn, starred Anne Bancroft as 'Annie Sullivan' and Patty Duke as 'Helen Keller.' The production won four 1960 Tony Awards: Best Play; Best Director; Best Actress in a Play (Anne Bancroft) and Best Stage Technician (John Walters).

The play was made into a succesful 1962 movie - also directed by Arthur Penn and which also starried Anne Bancroft as 'Annie Sullivan.' and Patty Duke as 'Helen Keller.' The movie won two Academy Awards: Best Actress in a Leading Role (Anne Bancroft) and Best actress in a supporting role (Patty Duke).